commercial fishing, the taking of fish and other seafood and resources from oceans, rivers, and lakes for the purpose of marketing them.

Fishing is one of the oldest employments of humankind. Ancient heaps of discarded mollusk shells, some from prehistoric times, have been found in coastal areas throughout the world, including those of China, Japan, Peru, Brazil, Portugal, and Denmark. These mounds, known as kitchen middens (from the Danish køkkenmødding), indicate that marine mollusks were among the early foods of humans.

Archaeological evidence shows that humans next learned to catch fishes in traps and nets. These ventures were limited at ... (100 of 16,917 words)